logical Survey study of Hawaiian volcanoes,
watched with members of his 12-man team in
the Hawaiian Volcano Observatory overlook
ing Kilauea ('rater. (losely they checked the
seismograph needle as it flickered with the vast
movements of magma in the earth beneath
them. (utside, a party of wives and friends
had gathered. for in Hawaii people run to. not
from, an eruption.*
The oval crater below them stretched for
two and a half black and forbidding miles.
The eruption was expected in the fire pit of
Halemaumau, a 430-foot-deep crater-within
a-crater. From the lookout in front of the
observatory, all eves were trained on that
306
spot. At S:09 p.m . the sky turned red. on
beyond Kilauea's rim. This was it--but in an
unexpected quarter. The activity came from
Kilauea Iki, a subsidiary crater on Kilauea's
4.090-foot crest (map, pages 322-3). There
had been no activity there for 91 years.
"We were set for it." Dr. Wayne I'. Ault.
geochemist of the observatory, recalled.
"We
had every available vehicle parked outside and
our gear all assembled. We were at the rim
* S e,. in the \ l. NA. (;In: )(;Rt II(': volcanic c Fire.
of the 50th State," Iy Paul A. Zahl. June, 19)59: and
"Photonraplhing a Volcano in Action," 1h Thomas I.
IlHargra\v, October, 1955.